The invention relates to a device for forming a plurality of accumulators, combined into a group and positioned on a supporting element, in particular accumulators for motor vehicles, whose poles are preferably disposed on an upper housing wall.
After such accumulators or batteries are manufactured, they are filled with acid for the first time through the filler openings and then charged for the first time. This process of charging accumulators combined into a group is also called forming.
Until now, after being filled with acid, these accumulators have been put together in groups of 15 to 25 each, and the poles of the individual batteries have been connected manually to the charging device via single, individual pole cables. The filler openings of the batteries are also equipped with so-called degassing elements, which trap liquids but allow gas to escape. A disadvantage of this, however, is that preparing the accumulators for the forming entails a considerable expenditure of time and manual labor.
A device for forming that has the characteristics recited at the outset is already known from German Patent Disclosure DE 37 44 606 A1. This device includes a charging and discharging unit electrically connected to the accumulators, along with means for filling them with electrolyte, a separator for electrolyte and gases that communicates with the accumulators, means for generating the evacuation periodicity, and an evacuation unit, all of these communicating with one another in succession. An electrolyte distributor means, which is mechanically connected to a rotary element, communicating hydraulically with the separator for electrolyte and gases and with each accumulator. The accumulators are connected electrically to one another and are arranged on a support frame of an electrolyte distributor means. A charging and discharging unit is connected to the first and last of the successively connected accumulators.
A portable charging stand for holding a plurality of electronic calculators is known from German Published, Nonexamined Patent Application DE-OS 26 18 748. The charging stand takes the form of a flat tub open at the top, in the interior of which, through inward-pointing projections that face one another in pairs along their long sides, a number of compartments, each for holding one of the calculators, is embodied, corresponding in number to the number of calculators to be received. The receptacle in each case is dimensioned such that the associated calculator, after being introduced into the applicable compartment, is securely held in the interior of the tub by connection of its plug connector to the charging terminal provided in this compartment, but protrudes freely accessibly past the upper edge of the tub.
By comparison, the object of the invention is to refine a device of the type defined at the outset in such a way that preparing the accumulators for the forming is simplified considerably.
In the device having the characteristics recited at the outset, this object is essentially attained by a flat component, embodied as a plate, frame, grid, or strip, on which a plurality of pole contacts corresponding with the poles of the accumulators are arranged, wherein the pole contacts are connected to a central electrical supply connection of the component via electrical conductor elements that are fastened to the component, and for forming the accumulators, the component can be placed or mounted along with the pole contacts, the poles of the group of accumulators, in order to establish a conductive connection between pole contacts and poles.
Because of this provision, the preparation for forming the accumulators is simplified considerably, since the component, by simply being placed on the group of accumulators, enables the making of an electrical connection between the charging device and all the accumulators in a single operation.
Advantageously, the component comprises a frame with transverse struts and/or longitudinal struts disposed on it. This creates the prerequisite so that the pole contacts can be fastened to the component in a form adapted to the structural size of the accumulators and to the positioning of the poles of the accumulators.
In particular, the pole contacts are positioned in rows and columns on the order of a matrix on the component. In this respect, it has proved advantageous that the spacing of the rows and/or columns have values such that the pole contacts can be put into electrical contact with the poles of accumulator groups of different structural size, optionally with modification of the grouping of the accumulators. This offers the possibility of forming groups of accumulators of different structural size using one and the same component.
Especially advantageously, the component has one or more degassing elements, fastened in particular to the transverse struts or longitudinal struts, and in particular a woven fabric structure or a semipermeable membrane or the like, which are associated with the filler openings of the accumulators. Thus the degassing elements, upon placement of the component on the group of accumulators, thus putting the pole contacts into electrical contact with the poles, automatically come to be placed over the filler openings of the accumulators, so that there is no longer any need to equip the accumulators with degassing elements individually.
In another advantageous feature of the invention, the component has a degassing labyrinth for returning the condensate.
It has also proved advantageous that sensors, such as temperature sensors or the like, for monitoring the charging process of the accumulators are disposed on or in the component.
Advantageously, the pole contact is fastened substantially vertically displaceably on the component, so that slight variations in height in terms of the positioning of the poles of the accumulators are automatically compensated for, and provision is made for a secure electrical connection between the pole contacts and the poles of the accumulators.
In this respect it is appropriate to subject the pole contact to the prestressing of a spring; the spring prestressing seeks to displace the pole contact toward the pole, in order to provide for a secure seat of the pole contact on the pole.
In a further, especially advantageous and independent feature of the invention, which is also employed independently of the component for every other pole contact, the pole contact is embodied as a pair of contact pincers that has two or more pincer elements, as a result of which an electrically good contact is provided for between the pole contact and the corresponding pole.
Especially advantageously, the pincer elements are guided on the component or other structural part by means of an oblique guide.
The oblique guide has an opening chamfer and/or a closing chamfer, so that the pair of contact pincers is shifted to the opening or closing position by compulsory guidance as a function of the positioning, in particular the vertical positioning, of the component or some other element.
The manipulation of the device is especially advantageous in combination with a supporting element, such as a pallet, built-up pallet or conveyor belt or the like, on which the group of accumulators can be positioned.
The supporting element advantageously has positioning aids for the group of accumulators, and the positioning aids optionally vary depending on the structural size of the accumulators.
Especially advantageously, the component is pivotably connected to the supporting element, for instance via a hinge. After the positioning of the group of accumulators on the supporting element, the individual positioning depending for instance on the structural size of the accumulators, the component, to prepare for the forming, is simply pivoted onto the group of accumulators; the pole contacts automatically place themselves on the poles of the accumulators, and at the same time the degassing elements close the filler openings of the accumulators to prevent the escape of liquids.
Because the component placed on the group of accumulators can be connected to the supporting element via retaining elements, locking elements or the like, the group of accumulators to be formed is mechanically held together and can be transported as a package without further provisions being made. Overall, this provision creates a solid, independently manipulatable package, comprising the supporting element, the group of accumulators, and the component.
It has also proved to be favorable that the supporting element has vertical frame parts for stacking a plurality of supporting elements, and the component is preferably pivotably connected to the frame part or locked to it, braced on it, or in some similar way separably fastened to it. Because of this provision, a plurality of such packages, comprising a supporting element, a group of accumulators, and a component, can for instance be stacked one above the other in a space-saving way for the forming.